CMPD 434 MULTIMEDIA AUTHORINGChapter 01 Part B

Introduction to Multimedia and

Authoring Process

Objective

• At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

• Explain Multimedia Software Development Methodology

• Understand Multimedia Authoring Paradigms & Concepts

• Multimedia developing suites (Hardware and Software)

Multimedia Software Development Methodology

Multimedia Development Methodology stages

• Conceptualization and Planning

• Design and Prototyping

• Production

• Testing

• Distribution and follow-up

• and (of course) management

Stage 1 : Conceptualization and Planning

• Every multimedia project begins with an idea or concept

• The concept and the plan define a project

• Planning should make the realization of the concept as straightforward as possible

The Kickoff Meeting

• Projects often start with ameeting to discuss theproject direction and plan

• Usually only a group of key players

• Serves to create and unite the team

• Defines and/or clarifies goals, roles, expectations, and strategies

Project Scope

• What are you making? …

• What is it for? …

• What do you want to say? …

• What will be used? …

… the concept

… the purpose

… the message

… the approach

Type of project

• Electronic Books and Magazines

• Kiosks and Information Centers

• Multimedia Databases

• Corporate Training

• Interactive Education

• Interactive Games

• Interactive Music

• Interactive Movies

• Interactive Art and Performance

• Interactive Sales and Marketing

• Presentations and Communications

Target Audience

• what is their background (with respect to age, education, gender, …)

• what are their preferences (even those prescribed by current fashion)

• are there some cultural and other constraints to be observed

• what equipment will they use to access your product (environment)

Stage 2 : Design

• Bridging the gap betweenthe audience and you

• Design should embody concept, purpose, and messages

• Technology helps and often is indispensable – but technology alone without the proper design creativity cannot do the trick

Design Goals

• Simplicity

• Consistency

• User involvement

• Affordability

• Fun, efficiency, timing

Simplicity• Multimedia by definition

includes user interaction and exploration

• Note: prettiest designs may not be the simplest, nor the easiest to use

• Good interaction design should instill a desire to go on and find out more

• However, efficiency is always an issue

User involvement• Most people like to get

“involved”

• Adding a human dimension to the communication with a mindless machine

• People enjoy exploring and discovering new paths – reward curiosity by designing depth

• Allow users to explore more than one level of information – but only if they explicitly choose to do so

Affordability

• Analyze what the users fromthe target group can afford

• Different audience segments have different amounts they are willing to spend on a given product

• Design goal: accommodate as much as possible within a given price range

Other Qualities

• some applications can be fun to use (but each user can have his or her own definition of what exactly is “fun”)

• user comprehension has its own pace – try to be neither too fast, nor too slow

• performance is always an issue: but this is predominantly a technical problem

Storyboard

• An illustrated scene-by-scene plan for telling a story: represents actions, images and narration unfolding over time

• Each significant frame is described in (some) detail, the actors are outlined, and their important actions are spelled out

• Storyboard may be considered to be a specification of the prototype (and, ultimately, the product itself)

Information Design

• How to organize and present information in a clear, accurate, meaningful and useful form

• Includes the information in all media and their visual interaction (to an extent)

Stage 3 : Prototyping

• A limited implementation of a design

• Emphasizes exploration and experimentation

• Prototyping helps simplify and improve production process

• Often used as proof-of-concept and/or testing purposes

• Multimedia applications must be prototyped

.

Product Specifications

• A complete list of features that covers structure and behavior of the product should emerge from the prototyping phase

• In multimedia, this means type and amount of content, interface characteristics, and interaction

Stage 4 : Production

• Organizing people and resources

• Providing and producing content – text, graphics, videos, sound, animation, VR

• Integrating all of the above into a meaningful, coherent product

• Details of production related to different media types will be covered in a separate lecture

Production Integration

• Integrating content elements: usually the responsibility of programmer(s)

• Project manager must overview integration

• Project manager should make sure that no content is forgotten or missing

• Problems of all types tend to multiply as the delivery time is approaching

Documentation

• Different types of documentation may be needed, depending on the project

• Both size and scope depend on the project and its intended audience

• Mass audience requires the documentation to be as simple as possible, together with additional materials (getting started, tutorials, … )

• Narrow, well-educated audience require in-depth coverage, description of more sophisticated functions

Stage 5 : Testing

• Walking in user's shoes – before the user does so

• Main questions

• When to test

• What to test

• How to test

• When to stop testing

• But the crucial question is: can testing give us complete confidence in the product?

Stage 6 : Distribution

• Activities related to:

• Preparation and duplication of physical media

• Choosing distribution options and channels

• Marketing

• Sales

Stage 7 : Follow Up

• Development wrap-up

• Maintenance

• Training

• Documentation

• Customer relations

• Pursuing additional opportunities

Intro. to Multimedia Authoring Paradigms &

Concepts

Multimedia Authoring

• Multimedia Authoring the process of creating multimedia application.

• During authoring, you might need to organize or edit the elements of your multimedia project, create user interface and designing interactivity.

• This can be achieved through the use of authoring programs / tools.

Why would anyone want to use an Authoring program

• Why it is more efficient and effective to use an authoring system:

• Simplify the inherently complex task of creating interactive multimedia.

• Reduce the time needed to develop the application

• Increase productivity

• Reusability of the content e.g. graphics, animations, audio, video clips.

Multimedia Authoring Paradigms & Concepts

• Authoring paradigm for easier understanding of the methodology employed to create multimedia applications.

• Scripting-language metaphor

• Slide show metaphor

• Hierarchical metaphor

• Iconic/Flow-control metaphor

• Frames metaphor

• Card/Scripting metaphor

• Cast/Score metaphor

Scripting Language Metaphor

• uses a special language to enable interactivity (button, mouse, etc), and to allow conditionals, jumps, loops, functions/macros

• e.g., OpenScript in Toolbook by Asymetrix -- load an MPEG fileextFileName of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = “c:\windows\media\media.mpg”;-- playextPlayCount of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = 1;--if want to start and end at specific framesextSelectionStart of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = 103;

Example of OpenScript

Slide Show Metaphor• by default a linear presentation

• However, tools exist to perform jumps/hyperlink – seldom used

• e.g., PowerPoint, ImageQ

Hierarchical Metaphor

• User-controllable elements are organized into a tree structure.

• Often used in menu-driven applications

Iconic/Flow-control Metaphor • graphical icons are available in a toolbox

• Authoring proceeds by creating flow chart with icons attached.

• e.g., Authorware by Macromedia

Frames Metaphor

• As in iconic/flow-control metaphor, but uses C language as the programming language

• rather than represent the actual flow of the program, links between icons are more conceptual

Card/Scripting Metaphor

• index-card structure, good for hypertext/hypermedia

• e.g., SuperCard, HyperCard by Apple

Cast/Score/Scripting Metaphor

• with cast members, music scores, and scripting language;

• many synchronous horizontal "tracks" simultaneously shown in vertical columns;

• e.g., Adobe Director (Uses Lingo = scripting language)